Shanghai Maritime University is a multidisciplinary applied research-oriented university with distinctive features in shipping, logistics, and maritime studies, offering disciplines in engineering, management, economics, law, liberal arts, science, and arts. In 2008, the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and the Ministry of Transport signed an agreement to jointly support the development of Shanghai Maritime University. In 2018, the university was included in Shanghai's initiative to develop high-level local universities.

The university has 3 postdoctoral research stations (Transportation Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Management Science and Engineering), 4 first-level doctoral programs (Transportation Engineering, Management Science and Engineering, Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Electrical Engineering), 17 first-level master's programs, 14 professional degree programs, and 52 undergraduate programs. It hosts 24 provincial and ministerial-level key research bases. The university has 1 national key (nurturing) discipline, 1 peak discipline in Shanghai, 2 plateau disciplines in Shanghai, and 9 ministerial and municipal-level key disciplines. Five disciplines—Engineering, Computer Science, Social Sciences, Materials Science, and Environmental Science & Ecology—rank in the top 1% globally by ESI, with the port and shipping logistics discipline maintaining global leadership. The university boasts 5 national characteristic specialties, 1 national comprehensive reform pilot specialty, 15 national first-class undergraduate programs, 6 programs under the Ministry of Education's "Excellent Engineer Education and Training Program," and 17 Shanghai undergraduate education highlands. It also has 2 national experimental teaching demonstration centers, 2 national virtual simulation experimental teaching demonstration centers, 5 national engineering practice education centers, 1 national demonstration base for joint cultivation of professional degree graduate students in engineering, 1 national vocational education "dual-qualified" teacher training base (water transport category), and 1 national collaborative innovation base for cultivating foreign-related legal talents (under cultivation). The university operates a water training center and owns the 48,000-ton bulk carrier "Yuming," used for teaching and internships.

The university received excellent ratings in the 2004 Ministry of Education Undergraduate Teaching Level Assessment and the 2006 Ministry of Education English Major Teaching Assessment. In recent years, its capacity for scientific and technological services has continuously improved, winning a number of national-level research projects and scientific and technological progress awards at ministerial and municipal levels.

The university implements a two-tier management system of university and colleges. Its academic departments include the Merchant Marine College, College of Transport and Communications, College of Economics and Management (Shanghai Advanced International Shipping College, Asia Cruise College), College of Logistics Engineering (Sino-Dutch Mechatronics Engineering College), College of Law, College of Information Engineering, College of Foreign Languages, College of Ocean Science and Engineering, College of Science, Xu Beihong School of Arts, School of Marxism, Institute of Logistics Science and Engineering, Department of Physical Education, International Education College, Continuing Education College, and Shanghai Harbour School. Among its over 26,000 students, more than 16,000 are full-time undergraduates, nearly 8,000 are postgraduate students of various types, and over 600 are international students. Among its nearly 1,200 full-time faculty members, close to 200 are professors. The university is dedicated to cultivating a wide range of specialized talents needed for the national shipping industry and has produced over 200,000 graduates for global port and shipping enterprises and government agencies, earning the reputation as the "Cradle of Advanced Shipping Talents."

The university has established exchange and cooperation relationships with over 100 sister institutions abroad, facilitating faculty exchanges, cooperative education programs, collaborative research, and student exchanges. It maintains close ties with renowned international shipping organizations and institutions such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), and DNV. Since 2010, the university has offered an "International Class," inviting students from maritime institutions in the United States, South Korea, Poland, Russia, Germany, and other countries to study majors such as "Navigation Technology" and "Shipping Management." In 2011, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, the university launched a collaborative "Logistics Management" undergraduate program with the Regional Maritime University in Ghana, enrolling students in Africa. This was the first overseas program by a Shanghai local university to award Chinese undergraduate diplomas. In 2012, the university was officially approved by the Ministry of Education as a "Chinese Government Scholarship Host Institution for International Students."